Another pastor has come out in favor of Mark Driscoll's new church plant but to support it he was forced to stand against the sheep of the Lord and real biblical discernment.

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Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. - Acts 20: 26-28 (ESV)

Pastor Shane Idleman is a regular contributor on Charisma News and this week has penned an opinion article defending Mark Driscoll by attacking those who do not support his return to ministry. As much as he tries to pretend he is neither criticizing not condoning, he makes it abundantly clear where he stands and it is not with the word of God. For while he does not come outright with his support for Driscoll's past, he is willing to minimize it for the sake of his future. As for criticizing, Idleman makes is very clear that he is against anyone questioning pastors. Defending a man who has yet to repent or even apololgize for stealing over $200,000 in tithe monies to cheat the NY Times Bestseller List? Oh that must be considered virtuous. Plagiarized over 10 books? Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Publicly preach that the people you have hurt in ministry are just a "pile of dead bodies?" C'mon, cut the guy some slack. Because if you dare to say anything about the fact that a pastor with this horrific record is trying to start a new church just 16 months after ducking discipline from this debacle in Seattle then you are the one with the "critical spirit"; judgmental attitude"; or "sowing discord." What utter nonsense. Let us reason together beloved and walk through the real judgment being made by Idleman here, one quote at a time.

"An attitude of constant criticism toward Christian leaders often reveals an inner drive to exalt oneself" -- Shane Idleman

There is a psychological term for this and it is called projection. It is where you project your own issues onto others to deflect where the focus should be. What is important to note here is that there is a vast difference between criticism and discernment. If I wrote a devotional about how Joel Osteen dresses funny and smells bad -- that would be criticism. If I point out however that he routinely butchers Romans 4:17 and lies that it says we have the power to speak things into creation -- that is not criticism Shane. It is discernment. If I was to say that I think Mark Driscoll is disqualified from pastoral ministries based upon all biblical qualifications provided in God's Word -- that is not being critical; it is being accurate. The truth here is that Shane Idleman is exalting the pastoral office far higher than God ever intended. He is paying lip service to the sins of Driscoll while beating any sheep who dares to raise their voice and say what God has actually said about what Mark has done.

"Biblical unity encourages us to go directly to the source when possible. Where are getting our information about a person, movement or ministry? Are we going directly to them and or reputable sources or are we looking to smear websites, gossipers and "heresy hunters" for the answers? -- Shane Idleman

The notion that anyone who has been correctly pointing out that Driscoll should not be in ministry should have gone directly to him is absurd and unbiblical. Idleman is trying to leverage Matthew 18 here but does so incorrectly. The verses in Matthew 18 deal specifically with personal sin:

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. - Matthew 18:15 (ESV)

So if I was one of the dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus for example, I should follow Matthew 18 so I can forgive Mark for what he did. If I am however pointing out how unbiblical, mean spirited and unchristian the comments are I do not need to seek Driscoll out. He has not sinned against me personally. I might add, he would never grant and audience to someone regarding this. But Idleman knows that and is just trying to muddy the water by blaming any criticism as a violation of Matthew 18 even though it is not. Furthermore, Shane tries to play the unity card but does so unbiblically. Unity is found only in doctrine, not singing Kumbaya with disgraced former pastors.

The next thing to address is the red herrings of a "smear website," heresy hunters and gossipers. Idleman is desperate to get the attention off of Mark Driscoll. So he now conflates the notion of gossip, which is wrong, with truth telling, which is of course right. Gossip by definition is idle talk or rumor. When discussing Mark Driscoll there is nothing left in the rumor mill. It is all proven fact. Mark may disagree about how people are reacting to it but he does not deny these are facts. He for example, thinks he was justified in taking the $200,000 + from tithes because his board approved it. I think that is a ridiculous argument and wonder if he has considered trying to stand before Jesus and make the same argument. As for heresy hunters the Bible expressly instructs all ministers to not only preach sound doctrine but to rebuke those who do not. A pastor who refuses to call out false teachings and teachers is actually being disobedient to Scripture. Heresy destroys real Christian unity. Heresy leads millions of people to hell. Why wouldn't any responsible pastor want to hunt it? Lastly, I do not personally know of any websites that are "smear websites." I think Idleman is confusing telling the truth with smears and gossip.

"Ask, "Do I have a critical spirit?" This could translate into a cynical or negative attitude. This is one aspect of Jesus' words, "Judge not, that you not be judged." If you have a judgmental attitude, you've already turned a deaf ear to God's leading. Ironically, I have noticed that those highly educated in biblical doctrine can often be the most critical, cynical and negative." -- Shane Idleman

It sure sounds like Pastor Idleman has a critical spirit towards anyone who wishes to hold Christian leaders accountable. And yes a critical spirit could lead to a cynical or negative attitude if it is not firmly rooted in His Word. The more likely outcome of a biblically motivated critical spirit however is the development of a Berean mindset where doctrine is more important than feelings. As if this were bad enough, Idleman then abuses the judge not verses from the Bible by referring to them wildly out of context:

"Judge not, that you be not judged.For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. - Matthew 7: 1-5 (ESV)

These verses are not about judging people. They are not even about judgment at all. They are about hypocrisy. Verse five gives that away clearly. If this were truly about "not judging" then why does Jesus instruct us to go back and help our brother with that speck in his eye? The truly sad portion of this excerpt from Idleman however is his silly attack upon people who strive for doctrinal knowledge. This is a common attack within the Seeker-Friendly Industrial Complex. Educated and biblically literate sheep are dangerous to false teachers because they eventually realize you are a liar and a charlatan. It is why Perry Noble referred to the people in his church who wish to go deeper in the word as "jackasses." Another mega church pastor referred to them as the excrement in the body of Christ. The reason why people highly educated in doctrine tend to call out falseness is they understand the Bible. They see the real damage being done by wolves and are fiercely protective of the flock instead of the wolves. It is clear that it is Pastor Idleman who has turned a deaf ear to God's leading. He did not like the criticisms coming out about Mark Driscoll opening a new church just 16 months after being disgraced in ministry. So he sat down to take pen to paper in protest and used the Bible to proof text his way to defend the indefensible. Rip judge not out of context? Mangle Matthew 18 along the way? Who cares?

"Ephesians 4: 31-32 states, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outbursts, and blasphemies, with all malice, be taken away from you. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you." Simply stated, bitterness, negativity, and anger will lead you in the wrong direction." -- Shane Idleman

The next set of verses to be misapplied are from Ephesians. Here we see the Apostle Paul speaking to the church at Ephesus about how we are to treat each other personally. What these verses are not however is an instruction on how to treat wolves. Where is Pastor Idleman's concern for the sheep of the Lord? Where is his concern for the sheep being robbed of over $200,000? Where is his concern for those who were hurt by Pastor Mark being mockingly referred to as a "pile of dead bodies." Where is his concern for the thievery involved with his plagiarism?

By the way, it is the people who are calling for Mark to repent who are showing true Christian love for him. Not the people who write articles excusing his sin. Mark Driscoll needs to repent for Mark Driscoll's sake first. Remember that he will answer for every dead body in his pile. The blood of his listeners will be upon his head. The key verses make that abundantly clear. No one is suggesting that Mark Driscoll should not have his walk restored. It is his ministry that is forfeited. That is not bitterness, anger, or malice. That is the Bible.

"I am deeply saddened by the spiritual condition of many Christians. We love to be arm chair quarterbacks and diss pastors and Christian leaders, yet we have no idea of the demands they encounter and the pain they feel. Our sinful tendency is to pull others down. We may think that somehow this makes us look better. If we are truly concerned about the body of Christ, we will hold our tongue." -- Shane Idleman

I am deeply saddened by the spiritual condition of many pastors today. Who would think nothing of abusing the sheep of the Lord in order to defend someone in the good ole boys club. Someone correctly pointing out that plagiarism is theft and theft is not allowed in the Bible is not an arm chair quarterback beloved. Someone who says that a pastor should not steal tithe money or try and cheat a Bestseller list is not "dissing a pastor." With all due respect, the difficulties of the job are irrelevant to this discussion. Is Shane suggesting that we should water down what the Bible says because the job of pastor is difficult? I might add that Mark Driscoll lived in a million dollar mansion at the time everything became unraveled so spare me the "woe is me" angle. If Pastor Idleman wants to know the true sinful tendency it is to cover up sin. It is as old as the Garden when Adam and Eve were hiding from God. We see it with David and Bathsheba. We see it in this article by Shane Idleman. In order to prop up his fellow pastor, Idleman is forced to tear down anyone who stands against him.

"Strive to develop the type of love that protects and defends others. For instance, why not believe that God is going to use Mark's past to help others?" -- Shane Idleman

Glad you asked Shane. The answer is the Bible tells me not to believe that. What part of this is escaping you? Mark Driscoll resigned in disgrace to avoid a deserved discipline that was coming 16 months ago. These are not trivial matters to be swept under the church rug. If we cannot expect to hold someone like Driscoll to account for his behavior then we will hold no one responsible. He willfully and maliciously hurt the very people God called him to protect. Then he preached to everyone else not bloodied that these people were just a pile of dead bodies to him. He stole their money. He cheated. He stole intellectual property and tried to pass it off as his own. He did all of this, has admitted to all of this, and apologized for none of it. He has repented of none of it. Every time he has preached since leaving Mars Hill he has tried to paint himself as the victim. Yet despite all of this Shane Idleman thinks it is love to protect and defend this record. Not to protect and defend the sheep. To have the hubris to actually ask why not believe God will use this unrepentant past to help others is staggering to me. I understand why Shane Idleman came to this point. It was not after careful prayer and biblical Berean work. It was his starting point.

"Stop yourself when you're tempted to gossip or belittle others, and turn the conversation if someone is taking you in that direction. The Bible is clear: If you have not love, it profits you nothing (cf. 1Corinthians 13:3). -- Shane Idleman

When your starting point was trying to prove a personal grudge instead of hearing what God might have to say you end up using the Bible. Leveraging it through proof-texting. The problem is that in order to get the Bible to say what you want instead of what God wants, you must wrest verses horribly out of context as we have already shown. Idleman finishes the butchery with not understanding the famous love verses from 1Corinthians. Beloved, what is love as Paul espouses for us here? Is it to turn a blind eye to sin and offense to God? Is it love to beat the sheep of the Lord to protect your friend? No. Love here is true love as God requires both towards God and man. How do we love God again?

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. - John 14: 15 (ESV)

Not stealing is one of the actual first commandments. Mark Driscoll not only stole the tithe monies but the plagiarism as also theft. How do you think you have love, show love, or will profit from love by defending that against the Word of the Lord? How do we love each other then?

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." - Mark 12: 30-31 (ESV)

Pastor Shane seems to be implying that it would be loving to pretend what Mark Driscoll did never happened. Just look the other way. There are two problems with that. First off, it dismisses the real victims here. How is it loving to the former 12,000 congregants of Mars Hill Church in Seattle? How is it loving to embrace someone who bragged about running over his own sheep with the Mars Hill bus? Secondly, how is it loving to Mark? He is going to answer for every careless word and deed as we all must. If I ever found myself in a situation such as this I would want people who love me to come alongside of me and tell me to repent. Not blindly support my new church plant when the bodies are still warm from my last. One last quote from Pastor Idleman:

"We should consider the total portrait of one's life, character and ministry and evaluate on that basis. A few poorly chosen statements, angry outbursts or controlling decisions made over the course of many years shouldn't define a person." -- Shane Idleman

Pastor Shane Idleman has tried vociferously to pretend that Mark Driscoll's offenses were just a handful of oopsies while defaming anyone who dared to stand up for what the Bible actually says regarding these offenses and the pastoral office. Perhaps to Idleman, referring to the sheep you have slaughtered as a pastor as a "pile of dead bodies" is just a "poorly chosen statement." Perhaps when he viciously attacked his own sheep and staff repeatedly for years, that was just "angry outbursts" to Pastor Shane. Perhaps stealing over $200,000 of tithe monies to cheat the NY Times Bestseller List was just a "controlling decision." I do not think I am out on a limb here to suggest that God does not see it that way. I do not think He sees it that way at all.

Reverend Anthony Wade - February 18, 2016

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.